Get Israel-syria Talks Moving Again

By Addressing Golan Heights Issue

January 18, 1994

President Clinton's 5 1/2-hour marathon conversation in Geneva with wily Hafez Assad of Syria didn't produce a blockbuster breakthrough, but perhaps the beginning of one.

If Assad's intentions can be trusted, far from a certainty, Syria is ready to begin "normal, peaceful relations" with Israel. In return, President Assad wants what he has sought for 27 years: The return to Syria of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel during the 1967 war against Syria and other Arabs.

A quick test of Assad's commitment to peace will come next week, as Israel and Syria resume peace negotiations in Washington after a deadlock that began in September. The two countries, the strongest players in the peace negotiations, have been at odds over Syria's demands for return of the Golan, and Israel's insistence on a specific offer for a comprehensive peace.

If Assad means what he said, there should be discernible movement toward agreement in the early days of the resumed talks. It was relatively easy for Assad to declare this: "We want the peace of the brave, a genuine peace that can survive."More than lofty words, though, will be required to push the talks forward.

Israel seeks and deserves to get a full peace with Syria, encompassing free trade, open borders and exchange of ambassadors. In return, the government of Yitzhak Rabin has hinted it will give back at least part of the Golan, where 12,000 Israelis live on farms and in small communities.

The most logical scenario is for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, over several years, although not necessarily every square mile of land would be returned to Syria. The rocky, volcanic area could become a demilitarized zone, patrolled by peacekeepers from other nations.

Clinton and Assad talked about the possibility of a small contingent of American troops being stationed on the Golan to monitor the peace. Clinton made no commitment, because Congress would have to approve, but it's a reasonable suggestion.

Since Israel occupied the Golan, U.N. peacekeepers have watched over the borders. Soldiers from Finland and Canada have been extraordinarily successful in their mission there, and the Israelis report no border violations by the Syrians in a quarter century. A new force of peacekeepers would have a successful tradition to build on.

After the Geneva meeting, Clinton dispatched a team of Middle East experts to Jerusalem to brief Rabin's government. The Israelis were cautious, as they must be, asking for details of Assad's thinking.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres struck the proper note, saying Assad's tone was too positive to be disappointing and too general to be satisfying. As always, the devil is in the details, and next week's talks in Washington will restart the process of vanquishing that devil.